Prior art steel musical instrument strings are traditionally principally comprised of spring tempered high-carbon steel (typically referred to as “music wire” or “piano wire”). Similarly, wrapped musical instruments strings typically employ a core wire principally comprised of spring tempered high-carbon steel. (Typically, such wrapped strings [“wound strings”] are used for strings providing the lower notes on the instrument. For example, wrapped strings are typically used on all strings of a bass guitar, the four bass strings of a steel-string acoustic guitar, the three bass strings of a six-string guitar and the four bass strings of a seven-string electric guitar.)
It is common for stringed musical instruments to amplify the sound provided by such instruments. Such amplification is typically provided by disposing the strings of the instrument over a pickup device. A pickup device acts as a transducer that captures mechanical vibrations from the strings, and converts them to an electrical signal which can be amplified, recorded and/or broadcast. For musical instruments having steel strings, the most common type of pickup is a magnetic pickup. A magnetic pickup consists of a permanent magnet wrapped with a coil of fine enameled copper wire. The vibration of nearby soft magnetic strings modulates the magnetic flux linking the coil, therefore inducing an alternating current through the coil. This signal is then sent on to amplification or recording equipment.
For users of steel stringed musical instruments, there is a continual need for musical strings which provide increased response to magnetic pickups.
There is also a continual need for musical instrument strings which are stronger and more resistant to premature string breakage.